Last night I started reading John Ortberg’s; The Me I Want to Be. I am only one chapter in…and already loving this book. I’m not a slow reader, so a slow read-is the greatest of book-compliments I can give! The more pen-scribbles all over it the better…..!
Ortberg begins by answering questions I think that you and I both wrestle with… For instance, I often have a hard time discerning what a more healthy, alive, godly me looks like….. And I’m in the picklesque-headspace again. Don’t get me wrong…I want to be holy. But not with the cringe-side-effect-benefits!! Not a cultural-cool-obsession, nor a swing out to pietistic-aloofness….I so don’t want to be “holier than thou.”
Ortberg says this, “As God helps you grow, you will change, but you will always be you. An acorn can grow into an oak tree, but it cannot become a rose bush. It can be a healthy oak or it can be a stunted oak – but it won’t be a shrub. You will always be you – a growing, healthy you or a languishing you – but God didn’t create you to be anybody else.”
He goes on to say, “When you flourish, you become more you. You become more that person God had in mind when thought you up. You don’t just become holier. You become you-ier. You will change: God wants you to become a “new creation.” But “new” doesn’t have to mean completely different; instead it’s like an old piece of furniture that gets restored to its intended beauty.”
Now that’s a picture of a more alive, healthy, godly me that I am so up for!! What do you think a more alive, healthy and godly (stick your name in the gap here) looks like?
Oh, and stay tuned or read it for yourself! I am sure this book is going to provoke much more blog fodder and good stuff in me. True is, I’d settle for the latter every time.
ps. and,….the goal in this entry, was NOT a dull book review… just a taster, a little-bookish-sample….?!….so let me know… did it work?!
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